Ralph Clifford (Business/Professional Director) started folk dancing in 1968 in a youth group in North Carolina, and continued to dance in New York, New Haven (where he met his wife, Jeanne), and now Boston. When he is not dancing, he works as a law professor at the University of Massachusetts School of Law teaching cyberlaw, and makes antique reproduction furniture for fun. He has two teenaged boys, one of whom has already become a folk dancer and musician.
Kathy Hagelston (Folk Leader Director) has enjoyed the folk dance community around Boston since she first started dancing with the Taylors while a student at Massachusetts College of Art in the 1970s. Her professional art career was focused on illustrating college biology textbooks for over twenty years. As a long-time fan of the Folk Arts Center, Kathy has produced several T-shirt designs, many event fliers, and various other graphics for FAC. She was the first editor of FAC’s printed newsletter, FolkNews, and currently edits the ever-growing facone.org website and the weekly emailed Updates. She also maintains the event calendar on FAC’s Facebook page. A regular at FAC’s weekly and monthly dances and annual camps, she has coordinated the Thursday Experienced Folk Dance series since 1998.
Elliot Isen (Business/Professional Director) has been dancing since before he was born. He grew up in the Folk Arts Center community, attending weekly dances and Pinewoods and Oktoberfest camp sessions. He has performed with Mladost Folk Ensemble and dances with Newtowne Morris Men, The American Travelling Morrice, and Maple Morris, and has worked at Pinewoods. A few summers spent fiddling on Thompson Island and participation in many sessions and workshops have given him a great appreciation for traditional Scottish music. While studying business and history at Bentley and Boston Universities, Elliot worked at the FAC office, learning about the operations of a nonprofit arts organization. He also managed The Bridgebuilders, a local Celtic fusion band, and is now their business consultant. He is currently a baker at Verrill Farm in Concord, MA, creating pies, cakes, and seasonally inspired desserts. Elliot is interested in building a career in arts administration and nonprofit management, and has interned at the Boston Ballet School. He is currently an Institutional Giving intern at the Peabody Essex Museum in Salem, MA.
Carl Lazarus (Business/Professional Director) has been active in folk dancing since 1976, and met his wife, Joyce, at MIT folk dancing. His 35-plus-year professional life has been spent in computer software and services, beginning in medical computing; two computer start-ups provided him with a variety of business and technical challenges. He is now responsible for the operation of Iron Mountain’s digital data storage and protection services. Carl lives in Newton with Joyce and two parrots, has two young-adult children out of the nest, and loves travel, reading, Frank Lloyd Wright and Alfred Hitchcock.
Walter Mau (running for Membership Representative) After a long vacation bumming about the world, Walter ended up in Boston and started dancing with the Taylors in Central Square in 1979. He went to NEFFA, Pinewoods, and Oktoberfest in Stowe, Vermont a couple times before time for dancing ran out. It was time to change diapers, cheer at soccer games, and go camping with the Boy Scouts. When that phase passed, he returned to NEFFA, then to Friday nights at PACC, and graduated to Thursday night FAC dances and Mostly Waltz at Springstep. The difficulty learning some favorite dances, which are done once a month at best, led him to take videos that he uses to learn those neat, but difficult steps. He continues to promote using videos for both beginners and experienced dancers. He has been on the FAC Board for two years. He works for a small nonprofit, writing software to process hospital patient medical data and, together with his wife, also serves on the advisory committee of another nonprofit, the Boston Area Returned Peace Corps Volunteers. Three nonprofits in a row.
Janet Nelson (Folk Leader Director) began folk dancing in college, although it wasn’t until she graduated that she felt she could really give it the time and attention it deserved. Moving to Boston in 1970, she began dancing as much as she could – with the Taylors and at MIT, enjoying international, Balkan, Israeli, whatever. She joined the Mandala Folk Ensemble in 1971 and that changed everything: she met her husband, Jack McCreless, there and found a new career as the company’s business manager. After 18 years performing (and 11 years managing) in Mandala, she took a sabbatical to create (together with Jack!) a new dancer, musician and future member of Mladost. Now a performer in the Revels Repertory Company, Janet is the proud mother of a college sophomore and works as a reference librarian in Winchester.
Carolyn Ramm (Business/Professional Director) began studying violin and viola at the age of 10, and also plays piano, guitar, mandolin and Celtic harp. She discovered the world of Celtic music while in law school in Chicago (where the bar down the street just happened to be a major Celtic venue). Her primary interest at the moment is in Scottish and Irish fiddling, which is how she was first introduced to the Folk Arts Center: through the Boston Harbor Scottish Fiddle School. And she now is one-third of the triumvirate that runs the weeklong event! In her professional life, Carolyn has over 20 years’ experience as an attorney, including many years in in-house legal roles with high-tech companies.
David Salstein (Business/Professional Director) started folk dancing in the Boston area in 1974, and has danced in other parts of the country while working outside of Boston. He is enthusiastic about many forms of music; he plays piano and often accompanies his wife, Jane, who plays flute. David and Jane both perform with the Waltham Philharmonic Orchestra as well as help with the orchestra’s finances. David has also played in a recorder ensemble. Professionally, he is a researcher in atmospheric and Earth science, with a background in mathematics. His work at an environmental company has been supported through his government grants. David collaborates with scientists in Paris, Vienna, and Warsaw, and in his career he has traveled to Japan, Prague, and elsewhere for meetings. He enjoys bicycling, languages, concerts, and theater.
Annette Sassi (running for Membership Representative) first discovered folk dancing in high school when the school’s modern dance club teacher also taught the group some folk dances. She joined the folk dance club at college as a way of getting the required physical education credits, and the instructor just happened to be Andor Czompo! She didn’t dance again for about ten years, until she discovered contra dancing in Albany, NY in 1987. A move to the Boston area in 1988 brought her into the dance scene here and she eventually found her way back to international folk dance. She currently dances with Muddy River Morris. She and her husband, Brian, particularly enjoy bringing their daughter, Claire, to Friday night dances, Saturday parties, and (of course!) Pinewoods. Annette serves on the Nominating Committee and hosts many of the Board’s monthly meetings.
Yaron Shragai (Folk Leader Director), born in Israel and come of age in New York, with stints elsewhere in the US before landing in Boston in early 2003, has been a multi-instrumentalist and armchair musicologist since his teen years. While his college and post-college years saw him interested mainly in the musical cutting edge, he has always had an interest in the traditional, which over time became his primary interest. Fortunately, the traditional is alive and thriving in the Boston area! Yaron began international folk dancing at MIT in the summer of 2003, and, in a couple of years, joined the club’s ad-hoc junta, programming, organizing events, and teaching dances. Musically, Yaron connected with the International Music Club at NEFFA 2004, and currently plays in a number of traditional ensembles – mainly the doumbek and the recorder. In his spare time, Yaron is a processor design engineer at Intel Corporation.
Jeff Tacconi (Business/Professional Director) has been international dancing for 20 years, during which time he has contributed to the overall happiness of the folk dance community with his penchant for making delectable desserts. Another one of his many passions is his interest in hops – not the step in many of our dances, but the hops that go into beer: Jeff hosts the annual Beer Tasting after-party at FAC’s Pinewoods Camp session in June. Other contributions Jeff has made to the community include earning his lifeguard certification in order to “work the docks” at camp, and helping to maintain the Friday night dance music collection. Jeff has recently exploded onto the fireworks circuit and enjoys lighting up the sky at events year-round throughout New England.
Jonathan Young (running for Membership Representative) began international folk dancing at Grinnell College over 25 years ago. He often teaches dances in the Boston area as well as at festivals such as NEFFA and NOMAD. In real life, he is a software engineer, and he also enjoys singing Bulgarian songs with the Bulgarian men’s ensemble Zornitsa. The last few years have found him involved in personally increasing the number of young people who attend dances (he is up to three)! Jonathan has served as Board Treasurer and is currently Vice President and works on the Finance Committee.
